User blog:Norfür/Aulus and Decima
The Philosopher stayed for three days in Demetae, telling stories to the people of the village. One day, a child walked up to her and asked for a story about a hero defeating a monster to save his people. Placing the child on her lap, she began, “Far away, in a small village, near a beautiful valley, lived two friends, Aulus and Decima. Both were young, strong hunters. Both also competed regularly, to see if they could surpass their own limits, and those of each other. When Aulus brought back a boar, Decima would return with two. When Decima brought back a deer, Aulus would return with two. Yet even with this, they were friends without question. One day, a ferocious beast attacked the village. It had eight heads and nine horns on each head, and for each horn was a mouth that spoke with a tongue so foul, that it could not be named. Being the strongest warriors in the village, Aulus and Decima took up arms to combat the beast, but it overpowered and cast them aside. The beast was impressed with their courage and spoke in the foul tongue of its nine horns, ‘You fight well, better than any I have faced before. For that I will give your village grace. I shall return in ten years, and fight you one by one. If I am defeated, then you and your people shall be spared, but if I defeat you, then I shall devour your village first, and save you for last.’ The beast left, and Aulus and Decima agreed to prepare. They competed even more, and trained harder than they had in their lives. They set traps, and fashioned better weapons, believing that if they could best their limits, and the limits of the other, then the beast could be defeated. When Aulus carried a hundred rocks from the bottom of the valley, Decima would carry two hundred. When Decima placed a hundred stakes in her trap, Aulus would place two hundred. The village elders would watch them everyday, and after some time, gave them words of advice. The day finally came when the beast returned, with its eight heads and seventy two horns, which spouted a tongue too foul to name. ‘Which of you now, will be fighting me first?’ ‘I shall go first!’ said Decima. ‘But this must be fought in a clearing we have prepared for this battle, for we do not wish any harm on the village while we fight.’ The beast scoffed at Decima’s words but agreed to her conditions, for it would not be as fun if he had to be careful. He followed her into the forest, and finally into a clearing. When they were at the centre, Decima gave the signal, and they began to do battle. Decima had over the years, become the faster of the two, and quickly swung her blade, removing the beast’s heads two at a time. But they would quickly grow back! This continued until noon, when Decima began to grow tired, but satisfied. She said, ‘I must rest before we can continue.’ The beast, however, was ravenous and refused to let her, saying, ‘We shall fight till you fall from exhaustion!’ And so Decima fought the beast until she became exhausted, until the sun began to set. There, she threw her sword down to a vine on the ground, next to the beast, and collapsed. Aulus then stepped forth to do battle with the beast. He had over the past years, become the stronger of the two, and cut off the beast’s heads four at a time, but they would still grow back. The battle continued until midnight, when Aulus began to grow tired, and said, ‘I must rest before we can continue.’ But the beast gave the same answer, ‘We shall fight till you fall from exhaustion!’ So Aulus continued to battle the beast until the break of dawn, when he threw his sword at a vine on the opposite side of the beast, and fell from exhaustion. Thinking he had prevailed, the beast stepped forth to finish the village. However, the swords thrown by Aulus and Decima, which had cut the vines, would not permit it, for as he took his step, the beast fell into a great pit that was being held up by the vines. At the bottom of this pit stood hundreds of stone stakes carved by Aulus and Decima over the years, and these impaled the beast and held it in place until noon. This was when the two friends awoke to find the beast still struggling at the bottom of the pit. They decided to finish what they had started, by pouring oil on the beast and setting it ablaze. When the fire burned out, they dropped boulders on the beast, until it was buried under the pit. The friends agreed that they could not have defeated the beast by competing, and that they had won only by working together. Aulus and Decima were married that same day, and taught their children the value they had learned. When they finally laid to rest, they were placed in the heavens amongst the stars by the gods, to burn brightly for all to see. Their swords were glorified and placed in a den guarded by the mightiest of dragons, and can only be retrieved by two whose cooperation equals theirs.” The child applauded the Philosopher, who told many other stories during her stay in Demetae. When the time was over, the people of the village gave their sorrowful farewell, for the last three days were great and inspired, and much celebration was had for her visit. From here, the Philosopher travelled to Oxonia, further south in the Concios Mountains. Category:Blog posts